Hell of Earth

Chapter TEN

"Save her!" Opal screamed. She was on her knees next to her friend, hands wrapped around her fingers. Ermine's brown eyes stared past her. Kait's hands were at Ermine's throat, slippery with blood. Her cheeks were splashed red by the less and less frequent spurts.

"I-I can't..." Kait yelled, tears ran down her face. Her fingers were nearly digging into the other girl's skin. "Its too bad- I'm too tired- I can't!"

Opal shook her head and glared at her. She'd seen how Proga's wounds had nearly closed by her hand. She could save Ermine. She had to.

Ermine's mouth hung open. Opal stroked her hand. "You're going to be ok, you're going to be ok- Kait come on!"

"Stop. She's gone." Spark tried to pull Opal's hands away. "We need to go."

Opal gritted her teeth and pushed him off. Hard. "She'll be fine! Kait just needs to-"

"Ok, Opal." Kait said quietly. "We'll fix her- but we need to get her to safety first. Spark- can you carry her?"

"Seriously? She's-"

"Please." Kait glanced at Opal still leaning over her friend, whispering encouragement.

"Fine. Don't hit me dumbass, I'm helping." Spark caught Opal's hand before she struck him while he reached for Ermine. He lifted her and staggered. He was winded.

"Her head..." Kait started.

Spark put a hand under the girl's neck to keep it from lolling back.

Opal sniffed and allowed Kait to pull her up, or more lead her. The other girl was still shaky, even more so now.

"You get Kait to safety." Spark told Opal. "I've got your friend."

She and Kait joined the throng of kids again. The closer they got to the gate the more bullets rained down. They had to jump over a few bodies. One boy tired to pull his friend who was screaming, blood leaking from his stomach by the arms towards the exit.

They scrambled over the broken rocks under the gate, jostled by the frightened teenagers on either side.

They were out.

"It's beautiful."

The road leading to the gates was smooth and dark, no sign of the ugly red rocks from the encampment. Green plants curled up from all sides. The sky was blue- not purple. Music? No... Animals. Opal gawked watching a group of startled red feathered creatures watching them from high up in a tree. They looked like Ermine's tattoo. Birds. The oppressive heat, the heavy feeling was gone. She took a deep breath and didn't feel like coughing.

"Yeah..." Kait agreed as the two of them limped along. Some of the teenagers didn't seem as surprised but most of them were staring as Opal did.

The majority of the group had gathered around a small tree. Opal could hear Gray's voice telling everyone to settle down and be patient. Kait was leading her away from there.

"You're safe." Yue was frowning. "Where's Spark? That blood..."

"He's-" Opal started and then realized she was having trouble controlling her throat. "He's helping Ermine. She was injured." She helped Kait to the ground next to Proga who appeared to be asleep although occasionally he'd wince and his hand would clench before he relaxed again.

They waited, watching the gate as people continued to scramble through. No sign of them. There was a loud crack and another piece of the gate broke, smashing down and closing off part of the exit. It was barely enough to get though.

Yue muttered something under his breath.

"Where are you going?"

"That should have exhausted him but I'd have thought he could help a human limp a few meters." Even as he said it Yue was walking towards the gate. Opal couldn't quite see what happened but suddenly there as a flash of white light and the entire opening was immersed in ice. The next second Yue was climbing up. He stomped once with his foot. With a crack the iced over stone shattered to pieces. He scowled and dusted his shoulder off where some of the debris fell, then he walked through.